All For the Want of a Nail
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: Aizen planned for a lot of things. But he didn't plan for this.
1. For Want of a Nail

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**For Want of a Nail**

Sosuke Aizen was very good at plotting and planning. He was even good at adapting his plans to unforeseen events and changes. However, while he had planned for almost every possible contingency and outcome, there was one thing that he forgot to plan for. Aizen really couldn't be blamed for this. It wasn't the sort of thing that any one would have thought of, and some people had gone to great lengths to keep people from thinking of the idea. And yet, this one unplanned for event would change everything.


	2. The Shoe Was Lost

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**The Shoe Was Lost**

Rangiku Matsumoto was not in a good mood. While typically the woman was always in a fairly cheerful mood, today this was not the case. This was in part because she had some how beaten the odds, and in part because she didn't have someone to vent on just yet. After all, Rangiku could hardly yell at Captain Unohana simply because the woman had told her that not only had she beat the long odds with the fertility rate for female shinigami, but also that her birth control had failed spectacularly and Rangiku was now almost two months pregnant.

Well, Rangiku probably could have yelled at Unohana, but that hadn't seemed like the best idea. Especially since she would probably need the woman's help later on. But no, at this point, Rangiku's wrath was focused on two things in particular: males in general and the male that got her in this predicament. She was going to kill Gin. This was all his fault. The stupid man just had to get her pregnant.

How in the world was she supposed to me a mother? Rangiku wasn't at all mother material. That was better off left to someone like Nanao or even Captain Unohana. But she was the one pregnant, and quite honestly, she found the idea of getting rid of her and Gin's child abhorrent. But that didn't mean she had to accept the situation with good graces. At least not at the moment. Rangiku had a feeling that once she vented, she would be in a much better mood about the whole thing. But first she had to kill Gin. And maybe the rest of the males in the Seireitei for good measure.

The moment she spotted Gin, her anger turned from white hot range to ice cold calculation. She stalked up to the man who was currently speaking with his lieutenant. Rangiku offered Kira a sweet smile.

"Would you excuse us a moment, Lieutenant Kira?" Rangiku wasn't ready to share her news with the Seireitei as a whole just yet. "I have a private matter to discuss with Captain Ichimaru."

Kira clearly sensed that this was a rather dangerous situation and made himself scare. Rangiku dragged Gin into an empty storeroom for some privacy. Gin raised a silver eyebrow at her.

"What's this all about, Ran-chan?"

With a bright (and probably slightly homicide smile), Rangiku spoke.

"Congratulations, Gin. You're going to be a father."


	3. For Want of a Shoe

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**For Want of a Shoe**

It took a moment for the information to process. Then Gin caught Rangiku up in a tight hug. The idea of a little Rangiku running around was both amusing and endearing. He could just imagine a little boy with Rangiku's hair and eyes. Plus the fact that she was having his child would be a large hands off sign to the males of the Seireitei. Not that he was worried about Rangiku finding someone else, but he got rather tired of watching idiots throw themselves at his girl.

She hadn't said when the baby was due, but Ran couldn't be very far along yet. She wasn't showing at all. He would have to make sure she took things easy. Well, easier than normal, and of course, she would have to give up sake for the rest of her pregnancy. And they would have to figure out whose quarters they were going to move into. His would probably be better since it was larger. They would need to set up a nursery as well.

Gin kissed Rangiku, and she finally relaxed in his arms. Rangiku rest her head against his shoulder. Gin dropped one hand to rest on her stomach.

"Did Captain Unohana say when you're due, Ran-chan?"

"Around the first week of February."

Now that was rather problematic. If Aizen's plans went through, Gin would be long gone by then, and the Seireitei might be embroiled in a war. That would not exactly be ideal for having a baby or raising one. Gin wasn't going to risk his son or Rangiku getting hurt. There would simply have to be a few changes in plans.


	4. The Horse Was Lost

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**The Horse Was Lost**

Gin attempted to organize his thoughts. Aizen was not going to take having his plans not work out well, and Gin wanted to be prepared. He also wanted to figure out the best way to derail said plans. If Rangiku and his child were going to be safe, Aizen needed to be fully dealt with. His plans for the Seireitei couldn't succeed, and that would take some doing. Gin was also aware that he was going to have to explain his role in those plans to someone at some point. He doubted he could deal with Aizen completely on his own. He wasn't stupid after all.

Things were already in motion for Aizen's plans though, and quite honestly, Gin didn't have a lot of time to change things. But he wouldn't leave Rangiku now, and there was no way in hell he would take her to Hueco Mundo. That was definitely not a stable environment to raise a child in. For all the problems that the Seireitei had, it was the best option for raising a child. So it was here they needed to stay. The next question was how to manage that. Gin didn't plan on ending up in a cell or executed either.

So he would have to go about this carefully. First he needed to put together a plan or two of his own. Then he could start recruiting allies.


	5. For Want of a Horse

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**For Want Of a Horse**

"Captain Ichimaru, is there a particular reason you requested this interview? I have to admit that it is rather odd."

Gin shrugged. He knew that his request for a private meeting with Yamamoto, Kyoraku, and Ukitake in an extremely secure location was odd. But it was the safest way to hold this conversation, and Gin was not paranoid. Not about the danger of what he was doing this afternoon.

"Well, given what Aizen had planned, it made sense." Gin grinned at the three men. "It's rather a long story. I suppose I should start with the most important part. So, Aizen is planning on faking his death, having Rukia Kuchiki executed so he can remove the Hogyoku from her body, defecting to Hueco Mundo, and generally causing chaos. He's also planning on starting a war with the Seireitei, but that's the phase of his plan after this one."

The other three captains just stared at him, so Gin continued.

"Tousen's helping him, and I suppose, technically, so am I. Anyway, I figured you would need to know about the plan if we're going to stop him."

There was a moment before anyone spoke. Finally, Yamamoto asked, "So why are you telling us this now?"

Gin's grin widened. "Rangiku's pregnant."


	6. The Rider Was Lost

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**The Rider Was Lost**

Gin was not surprised when Shunsui slapped him on his back and congratulated him. That was a pretty much what he had expected. Yamamoto and Ukitake's reactions were not something he really had the ability to predict. He would just have to wait those ones out.

"Just what does Lieutenant Matsumoto's pregnancy have to do with this?" Yamamoto asked.

Gin shrugged. "Well, it is my child as well, and I can't very well leave her to raise our son on her own. It wouldn't be fair to Ran-chan for one thing. According to Aizen's plan, we would be long gone by the time Rangiku went into labor. Of course, this is assuming that the Seireitei is still intact. Which I'd want it to be, but given Aizen's plans, that's not exactly certain. So, if I want to be here both when the baby is born and in order to help raise him, clearly something has to be done about Aizen. Especially given the results of any of the alternate father figures that are available if I'm not around."

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"


	7. For Want of a Rider

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**For Want of a Rider**

"Well," Gin said, "considered the possible alternate father figures if I'm not around. That's not taking into Unohana and Soi Fong into consideration, but then they're not really father figures, are they? But if he decides on the Commander-General here, my son will turn into a crotchety, rule bound stick in the mud, even if he does turn out be rather powerful. Then again, if he decides on Izuru as his role model, the kind will turn out to be a wimpy wet blanket. With Byakuya as his father figure, he'd be an emotional repressed, slave to society and its rules. Komamura would either give him issues with his appearance and the urge to hide his face all the time or turn him into some sort of furry, and no son of mine is going to be a furry."

Kyoraku was actually chuckling at this point. Gin took it as a good sign and kept going.

"The Eighth actually might be the most stable environment for a kid since that short chick with the glasses seems to have things under control, though I doubt that girl knows anything about having fun. But then again with Kyoraku around, my son could end up being a lazy, pink wearing, womanizing drunkard."

Ukitake burst into laughter at that.

"I assume Hisagi will take over at the Ninth when Tousen leaves, and with him as a role model, my son would end up as a punk with inappropriate tattoos. Hitsugaya would turn my son into a cranky square with a height complex, so he's clearly out. Zaraki would turn him into a pink haired, sugar addicted violence loving maniac, and we really don't need a male version of Yachiru running around. If Mayuri got his hands on my son, he'd end up a psychotic science freak with a love of dangerous experiments. There's always Ukitake, but then my son would go around foisting inappropriate gifts people and could turn out rather sickly."

Gin smiled at the men. "And I don't even want to think about the influence those in Hueco Mundo could have on my son. That's no place to raise a child. So, you see I need to be here to help raise my son."


	8. The Battle Was Lost

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**The Battle Was Lost**

There was silence. The three captains just stared at him for several minutes. And then Kyoraku burst out laughing again. He grinned at Gin.

"I know we'll have to demote him or something in the end, but we have got to keep him around. If only so I can hear the way he describes history to the next generation."

"It will be interesting," Ukitake chuckled. Then he continued on more seriously. "I assume you can give us more detail on Aizen's plans as well on information what he's done previously. This clearly has been going on for a while."

Gin nodded, privately thinking that this meeting was going better than he had expected. Then again, he had asked to meet with Yamamoto with Ukitake and Kyoraku present was because those two were the most likely to give him some sort of support. And they were the most likely to make sure that Rangiku was properly taken care of if something happened to him.

Yamamoto frowned. "I have a feeling that this will take awhile. We'll need dinner and someone trustworthy to take notes."

Gin let out a sigh of relief. It looked like this gamble would pay off.


	9. For Want of a Battle

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**For Want of a Battle**

It was a long night. Both dinner and Kyoraku's lieutenant had been summoned. She had taken notes while the three other captains interrogated Gin to the nth degree on everything he knew about Aizen's plans, both past and present. They hadn't quite gotten to Aizen's plans after he left the Seireitei yet. The remains of the meal were all that was left, and even Ise was looking tired.

But they were getting closer to a workable plan in order to deal with Aizen. Gin was pleased with that. Perhaps there was a chance for this to work out after all. Gin had always know it would be a long shot to get this whole web untangled, but then, he had rather made a business of making long shots work for him. And this was definitely one that he was going to make sure worked. After all, now there was Junior to think about.


	10. The Kingdom Was Lost

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**The Kingdom Was Lost**

And so it was that the simplest of mistakes that brought about the downfall of Sosuke Aizen. One little mistake that no one could have foreseen. The chances that Rangiku's birth control would fail were slim to none. Even with it failing, the chances that Rangiku actually conceiving were incredibly low. The fact that Gin was in a relationship with Rangiku and would even care about either her or their child had been completely unknown. It was really the smallest thing, but Aizen hadn't planned for it, and in the end, it brought Aizen down.


	11. And All for the Want of a Horseshoe Nail

Author's Note: I do not own Bleach or its characters. This is wildly AU.

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**And All For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail**

Aizen had not planned for Gin's betrayal due to Rangiku's pregnancy. This was evident on his face when Gin explained things to him. Of course, this was after Gin had stabbed him in the chest, so Aizen wasn't exactly at his best and the expression might have something to do with that. He certainly hadn't been ready for this twist of events. Then again, he hadn't known that his own plans had been hijacked. In the end, their strategy had really been to give Aizen enough rope to hang himself with.

Kyoraku and Ukitake had done a good job of planning in order to minimize the damage Aizen did in with his departure, and Gin had enjoyed pulling the wool over both Tousen and Aizen's eyes. Some of the actors in the play hadn't been informed of their parts until afterward, and not everyone informed (before or after) had taken things well. Hinamori had been devastated to find out that her beloved Captain Aizen was using her, though Rangiku had said Hitsugaya was taking good care of her, and it was better that she had found out through Yamamoto rather than being stabbed by Aizen.

He had gone with Aizen and Tousen as spy and secret weapon. Really, it had been quite fun for Gin. Hueco Mundo was not really a place for children, but it did afford Gin a chance to get a feel for the Seireitei's enemies and mess with their minds a little. He regretted having to miss part of Rangiku's pregnancy, but the Shinigami Women's Association would take care of her, and someone had to make sure that their plans to deal with Aizen went through. But really, Gin was glad that it was all over now.

Several months after the end of what had been termed the "Winter War", Rangiku Matsumoto went into labor. A full month before her due date. After nearly twenty hours of labor and three broken fingers on Gin's part, Captain Unohana delivered two healthy babies. The woman smiled at them as Isane handed Rangiku and Gin each a blanket wrapped bundle.

"Congratulations. You have a pair of perfectly healthy twin daughters."

Isane had to snatch one of the babies back up as Gin fainted.


End file.
